Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what kind of news do you anticipate when you turn on your TV set? Good news or bad news? Probably bad news. The media people have learned that the human psyche is attracted to bad news. The more tragic the news, the more attention we pay to it.
We have been bombarded by reports of human tragedies in Iraq – kidnappings, beheadings of hostages, roadside explosions, suicide bombers. I am sure there is some good news to report from that part of the world, but it fades in comparison. Senseless tragedies are happening on daily basis. We live in the age of terror.
It is hard to comprehend how a person can strap explosives around his waist, walk into a crowded place and set it off, blowing himself up and innocent people around him. We shake our head and say, “What a bunch of fanatics!” We are glad we don’t live in a place like that.
Well, the recent tragic news has not come from violence-torn places like Afghanistan or Iraq, but from Canada, Colorado, Wisconsin, and most recently from Amish community in Pennsylvania. Senseless murders committed not by blood-thirsty terrorist but by people we would never suspect of being capable of such horrendous crimes.
In Bailey, Colorado a man with no ties to the community whatsoever walked into the high school, held six girls hostage, sexually assaulted them, the shot one 16-year old in the head before killing himself.
In Wisconsin, a 15 year old student angry about being reprimanded shot and killed the principal.
Monday, a 32-year old truck driver, after finishing his milk route and dropping off his kids at a bus stop, went into a one-room school house and started shooting little girls before taking his own life. Now six of the girls are dead, four still in the hospital. This wasn’t some Muslim extremist filled with hateful propaganda. A truck driver, married, the father of three children. Supposedly he did it over something that happened twenty years ago, when he was only 12.
That Amish community and the entire country gasped in horror. How could something like that happen? Those poor little girls. One after another being shot while the others had to watch. According to the deputy coroner’s report, one 7-year old girl had twenty gun shot wounds in her little body. She could not share her comment without breaking down. Even the children who survived will have to live with that horrible experience. What has happened to our society?
Yes, we have seen school violence before, student shooting other students or a teacher - in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Moses Lake, Washington; the Columbine tragedy in Littleton, Colorado is still fresh in our minds. But an adult systematically taking the lives of innocent little children? I stand in shock at this unspeakable horror, same as you. The whole country stands in shock. May we never become desensitized to such horrible tragedies.
We stand in shock and ask, what has become to the basic sense of decency? What has happened to the value of human life? And we ask, if something like that happened in a quiet Amish community, can anyone feel safe anymore? Could something like that happen here? Did you know that on the opening day of the school year, nine fights broke out – on one campus alone? Could it turn into something worse?
We are living in the age of terror. We are fighting terrorists half way around the world, and we are faced with senseless acts of terror right here at home. There seems to be a common thread between a suicide bomber in Baghdad and the schoolhouse murderer in Pennsylvania. Both displayed a gross disregard for the value of human life, including their own, and the sick desire to instill fear in people’s hearts. That is the tactic of terrorism.
What can we do about it? Of course we want to intercept such people before they commit these evil acts. Of course we would like to protect our children by installing metal detectors at the entrance, keeping the school door locked, and placing armed guards in the hallway. But I think the problem is deeper than that and there is no easy fix.
I look back on the last 3 or 4 decades. I dare to conclude that as a society, we have been systematically desensitized to violence, to lack of decency, to the devaluation of human life. I have seen the abuse of our freedom. You know how much I appreciate freedom. I grew up in a country that lacked freedom so I would be the last person to speak against freedom. You we cannot separate freedom from responsibility. Freedom without responsibility is anarchy. And I am afraid what we have witnessed in recent days is the fruit of anarchy.
When an abortion on demand becomes the means of birth control, what does that teach about the value of human life? When you go to the movies and every other word you hear starts with an F, what does it say for our moral values and moral worth? The 1970s brought the so-called sexual revolution. “If it feels good, do it!” was the saying. If it feels good, do it – no matter what the consequences, no matter who gets hurt. And decency went out the window. When video games incorporate brutal beating and killing into entertainment, combined with gory graphics and sounds, and you see it 15-20 times a minute, is there any wonder why there are shootings in the workplace or in schools? Is it really surprising why there is so much road rage?
There are some of you here who have witnessed the reality of death and know it is quite a bit different from a segment in an action movie or a click in a video game. I wish people with violent tendencies would realize that before it’s too late.
The Bible teaches in Galatians 6: 7-8, Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
I am afraid that as a society, we are now reaping what we have allowed others to sow around us. We cannot embrace “anything goes” mentality and expect decency to be the norm among us. We are living in the age of terror and will continue to live in the age of terror until something inside of people will say, “Wait a minute – this is wrong!” before they commit an act of terror.
These things that we described earlier are only the symptoms of a more serious condition – the drifting away from God. Now, as a society, we are paying the price. When God is absent, guess who fills the void? Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind. Just as there is godly influence in the world, there is also evil influence in the world. This is not some cartoon joke. People throughout history have been deceived by the devil and lured into committing horrible things. That’s how the devil operates because he is seeking to destroy human lives.
But the Bible gives us this advice in James 4:7 Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Resist the thoughts of violence and terror! Let self-control and reverence for God and the sanctity of life rule in your hearts.
I wish someone could have grabbed that truck driver and shake him up and say, “No matter how angry you are inside, no matter how much grudge you are harboring, do not take it out on innocent little children! Do not listen to the devil. Resist him!” But, it’s too late.
Resisting the devil is not easy. If we relied on our own power, we would be in trouble. We must first surrender to God and let His power deal with the devil. Whatever the hurts that we carry inside of us, whatever the scars of former abuse, whatever the flashbacks of the bad things that people have done to us in the past, we cannot let them lead us toward such senseless tragedies. We must take them to the cross and surrender them to God and ask Him to take them away from us – bitterness, thoughts of revenge, hatred.
Listen to the complete passage from the 4th chapter of James: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you.
If we do not want to hear more tragic news on TV, if we want our children to be safe, if we want things to change, then we, as a society must change. We must submit to God, we must resist the devil. We must draw near to God so that He would draw near to us. He is eager to do so! We were created in His image, not in the image of the devil. Our heavenly Father loves us and wants us to have a close personal relationship with Him. In His love He gave us His Son Jesus so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. In Him we are new creations.
Right now we are living in the age of terror. Bad news will probably not stop any time soon. We stand in shock. The Amish community in Lancaster County is grieving and we are grieving with it. But we are not alone. We draw near to God and He comes to us to comfort us, heal us, and to encourage us.
Let us do our part to change our society for the better. Let it begin with us, in our hearts. Let us turn away from decadence. Let us turn away from filth that pollutes our moral worth. Let us be faithful in our marriages. Let our speech be gracious and our thoughts kind, especially toward the children. Let us protect our minds from garbage, but listening to the advice of Philippians 4:8 fill our minds with things that are noble, lovely, and worthy of praise.
May the Spirit of God fill our minds with the gifts of love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. That’s how we will, with God’s help, overcome this age of terror. Amen.
